[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58711-58713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23888]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279; FRL-10001-31-OAR]


Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On or about October 31, 2019, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) will make available the document, Policy Assessment for 
the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft 
(draft PA). This draft document was prepared as part of the current 
review of the national ambient air quality standards

[[Page 58712]]

(NAAQS) for photochemical oxidants including ozone (O3). The 
PA, when final, serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the currently 
available scientific and technical information and the judgments 
required of the Administrator in determining whether to retain or 
revise the existing O3 NAAQS. The primary and secondary 
O3 NAAQS are set to protect the public health and the public 
welfare from O3 and other photochemical oxidants in ambient 
air.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before December 16, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2018-0279, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. Include the Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279 in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744. Include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2018-0279 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Office of Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West 
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this notice. Comments received may be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. This document will 
be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards. The document will be accessible under 
``Policy Assessments'' from the current review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre L. Murphy, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-0729, fax number: 919-541-027; or email: 
murphy.deirdre@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-
0279, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may 
publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 
accompanied by a written submission. The written submission is 
considered the official submission and should include discussion of all 
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider 
submissions or submission content located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Information About the Document

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) govern the 
establishment and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then 
issue ``air quality criteria'' for those pollutants. The air quality 
criteria are to ``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge 
useful in indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on 
public health or welfare which may be expected from the presence of 
such pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' (CAA section 108(a)(2)). 
Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish primary 
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for each pollutant 
for which the EPA has issued air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of 
the Act requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of 
existing air quality criteria. Revised air quality criteria are to 
reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the 
pollutant on public health and welfare. Under the same provision, the 
EPA is also to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the 
NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria.
    The Act additionally requires appointment of an independent 
scientific review committee that is to periodically review the existing 
air quality criteria and NAAQS and to recommend any new standards and 
revisions of existing criteria and standards as may be appropriate (CAA 
section 109(d)(2)(A)-(B)). Since the early 1980s, the requirement for 
an independent scientific review committee has been fulfilled by the 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    Presently the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS 
for photochemical oxidants and O3.\1\ The EPA's overall plan 
for this review is presented in the Integrated Review Plan for the 
Ozone NAAQS (IRP).\2\ As described in the IRP, the EPA is preparing an 
Integrated Science Assessment for (ISA), a draft of which was released 
in September 2019 for public comment and review by the CASAC (84 FR 
50836).\3\ The PA, when final, serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the 
scientific and technical information in the final ISA and any air 
quality, exposure and risk analyses available in the review, and the 
judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to 
retain or revise the existing ozone NAAQS. The draft PA builds upon 
information presented in the draft ISA and the draft exposure and risk 
analyses (presented in an appendix to the draft PA). The draft PA 
document will be available on or about October 31, 2019, on the EPA's 
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards. 
The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by 
means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public meeting 
of the CASAC. Information about this public meeting, including the 
dates and location, will be published as a separate notice in the 
Federal Register. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider 
comments received from the CASAC and the public in preparing revisions 
to these documents.
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    \1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on 
June 26, 2018 (83 FR 29785).
    \2\ The IRP (EPA-452/R-19-002, August 2019) is available at 
https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
    \3\ 3 The draft ISA is available at: https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-standards-integrated-science-assessments-current-review.
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    The draft document briefly described above does not represent and 
should not be construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, 
or determination. The EPA will consider any public comments submitted 
in response to this notice when revising the document.


[[Page 58713]]


     Dated: October 28, 2019.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2019-23888 Filed 10-31-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


